Sarvodaya President Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne welcomed the U.S. Ambassador and his party and received the equipment with thanks. The new computer equipment, he said, would help the Sarvodaya Central Library offer better services to Moratuwa residents -- university students, schoolchildren, teachers and the general public, adding that such improvements in the field of education are needed to meet the challenges of the new millennium. Published: Wed May 31 23:20:19 EDT 2000

In another development, President Chandrika Kumaratunga ordered all soldiers to wear dog tags so that they could be identified if they were killed or wounded. She said that the bodies of soldiers were sometimes disposed of without being properly identified. More... Published: Wed May 31 18:53:02 EDT 2000

''Can you imagine what our friends in England and America would think of this? To us, that was just normal. What has happened to us?'' More... Published: Wed May 31 09:21:32 EDT 2000

Military officials said that no heavy fighting was reported from the northern war theatre, but two naval men were killed on late Tuesday night when artillery shells fired by the Tamil Tiger rebels fell into a navy bunker-line at Kankesanthurai, a government's sea port in northern Sri Lanka.

"It's look like calm before storm", a military source said in Colombo. The fighting was at stalemate amid speculations that Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was moving his cadres to the war theatre from Wanni.

On Tuesday, government said that its army launched two-pronged attacks in several areas under control by the Tamil Tigers and in the operation at least 100 rebels were killed, but independent sources said that the figure was very much lower, since the army succeeded only a little due to heavy counter offensive actions by the rebels.

Meanwhile, the "city of Trinco", a passenger service inaugurated this month to ferry internally displaced people between Trincomalee and Jafna peninsula arrived at the eastern port city today carrying 250 refugees.

The refugees told local a journalist at Trincomalee that conditions in Jaffna is worst and hundreds of civilians were suffering without adequate food and shelter.

The United States under state secretary of political affairs Thomas Pickering during his visit to Colombo a few a days ago voiced serious concern over the plight of civilians in Jaffna peninsula and urged the government and the LTTE to return to the negotiating tables immediately before a major "human tragedy" occurs.

"We are very much concerned over the civilians in the area", he told a selected group of journalists before flying out of Sri Lanka that had been torn due to 18 years of bloody war. Published: Wed May 31 07:24:21 EDT 2000

Meanwhile, the government admitted for the first time today that the war against Tamil rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula has forced more than 8,000 people out of their homes.

The commando assault in Ampara, 125 miles east of Colombo, came after rebels attacked a police camp with mortars, state-run radio said. The radio reported 18 rebels killed, including 14 women. More... Published: Wed May 31 07:20:55 EDT 2000

The SMIC said in a statement the haul included assault rifles, machine guns and 81mm mortar which were captured in Ariyalai and Chavakachcheri on the Jaffna peninsula on the island's northern tip.

On Tuesday the government declared that a major Tamil rebel offensive in Jaffna had been stopped but fighting had left more than 100 combatants dead on both sides. More... Published: Wed May 31 05:34:34 EDT 2000

A government statement said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) rebels had mounted an attack using rocket propelled grenades on army positions in the Chemmani area, close to Jaffna city, but were forced to withdraw when the troops retaliated. More... Published: Wed May 31 05:23:13 EDT 2000

A Security Forces fighting patrol operating ahead of the defences in Colombothurai area confronted a group of terrorists. Two terrorists were killed and two others were wounded. More... Published: Wed May 31 05:16:42 EDT 2000

When Tamil Tiger separatists stampeded a Sri Lankan stronghold called Elephant Pass on April 21, most experts wrote the epitaph for the unity of Sri Lanka and its Army. Armed with rocket launchers, 5,000 Tiger soldiers overwhelmed 40,000 Sri Lankan troops and in three days took a position the Army had captured only after 17 painful months.

It seemed only days or hours before the ferocious LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), one of the most feared and efficient guerrilla groups in the world, would roll into Jaffna city. Located near the tip of Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority northern peninsula, Jaffna is considered by Tamils to be the mythic capital of a greatly desired independent Tamil homeland, or "Eelam."

Yet in the past two weeks, the Sri Lankan Army has begun to do what no one expected: They have started to fight back.

Journalists are barred from the fighting areas, but reliable sources report that the military has been rearming. It's using satellite imagery provided by the West to detect guerrilla positions, and it has stalled the Tigers' three-pronged attack in northern Sri Lanka. Early in the week the Army had, at least temporarily, driven the guerrillas from Chavakachcheri, a key city.

More.... Published: Wed May 31 04:52:01 EDT 2000

In Colombia, a Norwegian United Nations official is seeking to cement peace between the Army and Marxist guerrillas.

In Ethiopia and Eritrea, Norwegian church workers are fostering talks between religious leaders on both sides of the war.

"Everywhere there is a crisis, there seems to be a Norwegian," says Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

Ever since Norway helped broker the Oslo peace accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, the Norwegian government has been inundated with requests to help solve conflicts, from Kashmir to Kurdistan, from Cyprus to Guatemala. And wherever it gets involved, Oslo has practiced its unique brand of diplomacy, blending official overtures with freelance initiatives by ambitious private citizens in a way no other country has dared.

More... Published: Wed May 31 04:44:29 EDT 2000

They said a truck carrying about 40 policemen was blown up close to the town of Vavuniya, about 220 kilometers (138 miles) northeast of Colombo. More... Published: Tue May 30 14:00:00 EDT 2000

Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, U.S. Under Secretary of State: I think that one way is to make it clear that we and others who assess the situation do not see a military resolution to this conflict. And I think that the long and sad and very difficult and very damaging history of this conflict should, in its own way, speak to them about the non-feasibility of a military solution. I think, secondly, letting them know that the international community in our judgment as a whole does not support another independent state is, I hope, at least a message that will have some effect. We believe that they should give up assassination and terror. We believe that they should be part of a negotiating process that the government has offered. And I believe the government is anxious to obviously resolve in its own mind what it is prepared to do in its negotiating efforts to achieve the result by trying to describe what an effective autonomy might be. More... Published: Tue May 30 13:50:18 EDT 2000

As the LTTE, in an attempt to boost the depleting numbers of its cadre, began a massive conscription drive in the area under its control, visiting US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering held talks with the Sri Lankan leadership and formally ruled out any support for Eelam, a separate state for Tamils. More... Published: Tue May 30 13:49:41 EDT 2000

Thirty four (34) war wounded patients have been transferred to the Vavuniya hospital from the Mallavi area in Chavakachcheri. The injured civilians were moved by doctors of the Medicines sans Frontier working in Sri Lanka's battle zones.

From May 14, to Sunday May 28, fifty two (52) war wounded persons were admitted to Point Pedro hospital. Of this number one succumbed to injuries.

The ICRC together with Sri Lanka Red Cross teams, continue to monitor the humanitarian needs of the population in the northern peninsula. The ICRC have since the outbreak of hostilities between troops and the LTTE, given non food relief assistance to 3,250 families (12,000 persons) in the West Valikamam and Point Pedro area.

The families are housed at present in various welfare centres in the northern peninsula. Harsha Gunawardana, Spokesman for the ICRC said that this figure however is not the totality of the displaced in the peninsula. He said it is difficult for the ICRC to assess the total number displaced, since the organization does not have access to areas in which the battle continues to rage.

While conducting some 15 mobile clinics also to help the displaced, the ICRC have assisted some 241 families in the Vanni. The Vanni region in the North of Sri Lanka comprises of Vavuniya, Mannar, Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts.

The ICRC maintain that it would be no exaggeration to say that one of the serious consequences of the armed conflict prevailing in the country, is the enormous human suffering undergone by the internally displaced and resident population of the Vanni region.

The humanitarian organization asserts that constant military operations and ever shifting front lines have compelled the majority of people to move several times in recent years. (eg. Operations Riviresa 1, 2, 3 (95-96), Sath Jaya 1, 2, 3 (96), Edibala (97), Jaya Sikuru (98), Rivibala (98), Unceasing Waves 3 (99 -00). Published: Tue May 30 10:44:17 EDT 2000

Meanwhile the government maintains that as a result these families are undergoing severe hardship as they have taken refuge in Kovils while some are under trees in sections of the northern peninsula.

As the civilian situation seems to worsen in Jaffna, both the United Nations for High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Thomas Pickering, US Under Secretary expressed serious concern over the plight of thousands of civilians in the northern peninsula who they say are caught between the fire of government troops and the LTTE.

Pickering, while on an official visit to Colombo yesterday, told a news conference that it was evident, urgent measures should be adopted to avoid a human catastrophe in Sri Lanka's North.

Answering questions posed by journalists yesterday, Pickering ruled out any international support for a separate state in Sri Lanka affirming that, "Eelam - a separate state, can only exist in the 'Planet of the Dead.' " Published: Tue May 30 10:44:17 EDT 2000

The President is reported to have promised that she would express their concerns to both the PA and UNP delegations who have been jointly debating devolution proposals, aimed at bringing about a political resolution to the present conflict.

The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) has meanwhile voiced displeasure at the joint discussions between the PA and UNP saying that both parties have attempted to dilute the proposed constitutional reforms and have not lent serious consideration to aspects of the peace package that will affect the minority communities in Sri Lanka.

The TULF, PLOTE, EROS, EPDP and SLMC were some of the parties represented at the discussion. Published: Tue May 30 10:44:17 EDT 2000

The Government maintains that a number of enemy strong points have been damaged causing considerable losses to the rebels. Backed by armour and heavy artillery, the military claim to have repulsed several attempts by the Tigers to ferry more men and materials to Ariyalai and Thananankillapu using the Jaffna lagoon from the Vanni mainland. Published: Tue May 30 10:44:17 EDT 2000

rebels in the northern battle zone, a top government spokesman said.There was no claim of responsibility for the mine explosion that occurred as a truck carrying policemen left Vavuniya, said a local police officer. Two policemen died immediately. Of 23 admitted to the local hospital, another six died there, said a nurse reached by telephone. More.. Published: Tue May 30 08:48:49 EDT 2000

Movement and the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT)."It may be repulsive and obscene, but it's not illegal," a law enforcement official has been quoted in media reports as saying about the proposed celebrations.FACT organized its Tamil New year dinner at an exclusive hotel here with Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin as chief guest. More.. Published: Tue May 30 08:47:01 EDT 2000

They said a truck carrying about 40 policemen was blown up close to the town of Vavuniya, about 220 km (138 miles) northeast of Colombo.

Initial reports said seven civilians were also wounded in the blast, which police blamed on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels. More... Published: Tue May 30 05:11:10 EDT 2000

A military spokesman says there was close-quarter fighting overnight in three towns in an area straddling the Jaffna peninsula's main highway.

The spokesman said a-hundred rebels were killed. More... Published: Tue May 30 03:32:29 EDT 2000

The mine exploded as a truck carrying a group of policemen left the northern town, said a police officer in Vavuniya. More... Published: Tue May 30 03:27:11 EDT 2000

US Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering, told reporters after talks with President Chandrika Kumaratunga the US would not recognise an "Eelam", a separate state demanded by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka's northeast. More... Published: Tue May 30 03:15:51 EDT 2000